[av_heading tag=’h3′ padding=’10’ heading=’Frequently Asked Questions ‘ color=” style=” custom_font=” size=” subheading_active=” subheading_size=’15’ custom_class=”][/av_heading]
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Normally children are seen at the following intervals:
- Newborn
- 1 month of age
- 2 months of age
- 4 months of age
- 6 months of age
- 9 months of age
- 12 months of age
- 15 months of age
- 18 months of age
- 2 years of age
- 2.5 years of age
- 3 years of age – annually thereafter
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[av_toggle title=’How do I schedule a sick visit?’ tags=”]
We do not schedule visits though our patient portal or our website. All visits should be scheduled by phone during office hours. Our phone lines are open from 8 am – 5 pm on Monday through Friday and from 8 am – 10 am on Saturday. We strongly recommend that you call early for sick visits because the schedule can fill up quickly depending on the season. We do not provide urgent visit appointments for the next day and strongly discourage walk-in visits because appointments may not be available. We realize that sometimes caring for a sick child can interfere with work, school and other responsibilities. We will gladly provide you with a written excuse should your child’s health necessities require it.
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When our office is closed after work hours, during weekends, and holidays, our patients can still reach us for urgent matters through our Emergency Answering Service. Should you need to urgently speak to a healthcare provider after hours, please call our main office number (631) 231-5070 and provide the answering service operator with your child’s information, a call back number and reason for the call. The answering service will contact the on-call provider who will return your call as soon as possible.
Please keep in mind that this service should be used only for urgent clinical matters that cannot wait until the next business day.
If you feel that your child has a life-threatening emergency (for example, he/she is unconscious, having a seizure, bleeding profusely, has severe difficulty breathing, has suffered severe burns or injuries, etc.), it is most appropriate to call 911 immediately instead of our emergency answering service.
Urgent Care Centers are an excellent alternative to the Emergency Room. They are used to treat patients who have an injury or illness that requires immediate care but isn’t serious enough to warrant a visit to the hospital Emergency Room.
Urgent care centers can be used for non-emergency visits that cannot wait until the next day. If you need guidance in deciding whether your child’s condition can wait to the following day or warrants a visit to the urgent care center or Emergency Room, please call our answering service as above.
Click here to view a list of local Urgent Care Centers:
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[av_toggle title=’What do I need to know prior to my child’s visit? ‘ tags=”]
- Every child must be accompanied by parent/legal guardian. If you would like to assign others to bring your child speak to a staff member and they will provide you with a form that needs to be completed
- Please arrive 10 minutes before your scheduled appointment time to process necessary paperwork
- Important documents to bring to your appointment are: insurance card, immunization records, any forms that need to be filled out, hospital discharge summaries and list of current medications
- In order to provide comprehensive care to your child we need to have up to date information regarding your child’s history, insurance and demographic information. This information needs to be updated annually. To save time at the office, please click on a link below to download and print the forms. Please make sure to complete the forms entirely and return them to the office at your upcoming appointment.
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[av_toggle title=’What is your policy regarding immunizations/vaccines? ‘ tags=”]
Our practice follows recommendations of the American Academy of Pediatrics (AAP) and the Center For Disease Control (CDC). Click on a link below for more information.
Vaccine Information Statements
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[av_toggle title=’Can my child still receive immunizations if he/she is sick? ‘ tags=”]
Yes, for the most part most minor illnesses are not a contraindication for vaccines. The only time we would postpone a vaccine is if the child has an acute illness accompanied by fever (temperature greater than 100.4° Fahrenheit) less than 48 hours prior to vaccination.
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[av_toggle title=’What languages besides English are spoken at the office? ‘ tags=”]
Spanish, Korean and Farsi.
For other languages not listed above we use a service called LanguageLine Personal Interpreter. Their team speaks over 200 languages.
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[av_toggle title=’Do you do ear piercings? ‘ tags=”]
No, our office does not perform cosmetic procedure such as ear piercings. It is not recommended that children have piercings prior to completion of their first set of vaccines (around 2 months of age). We will be happy to provide you with a copy of your child’s immunization record should you require them.
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[av_toggle title=’How can I obtain a referral?’ tags=”]
Most referrals will require your child to be seen in the office before being generated. However some exceptions include:
- Specialist follow-up visit
- Abnormal vision and/or hearing test results in school
- If a referral was recommended by another healthcare professional
Please keep in mind that in order for us to generate a referral we must have the child’s diagnosis and reason for referral as well as the information for the specialist to whom they will be referred. Please allow at least 48 hours whenever possible for these requests to be processed.
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[av_toggle title=’How can I get a copy of my child’s medical record?’ tags=”]
All requests regarding medical information must be made in compliance with the Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act (HIPAA). Our office will provide you with a HIPAA compliant form to be completed by the authorized parent/legal guardian. Please click on a link below to view our notice of privacy practices.
Notice of privacy practices (English)
Notice of privacy practices (Spanish)
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[av_toggle title=’How can I request a letter or a form to be completed? ‘ tags=”]
Physical forms
Our practice has a standard physical form that complies with NYSED requirements. This form will be generated at the time of the physical. If your school requires their own form to be filled out and will not accept ours it will be completed within 7 business days.
Medication authorization forms
Certain conditions such as asthma and food allergies may require medication to be available for administration in school. For this purpose our office has a standardized form that meets NYSED state requirements. For children who are 12 years and older who participate on sports and/or after school activities, the state of NYSED requires a special permission statement that allows the child to self-administer their medication without the need of the school nurse. In order to provide this permission statement the child must be observed self administering the medication by one of our healthcare providers. If your child is going to be in sports and is entering the 7th grade, you must bring the medication device with your child to their office visit in order to allow for this permission to be issued
Other forms and letters
All other forms and letters should be dropped off or requested in our office with enough time (7-10 business days) to allow for them to be completed. Certain types of letters (IRS, immigration documentation, etc.) are subject to a non-refundable fee payable at the time of the request.
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If you have any other questions please contact our office at (631) 231-5070 during normal business hours.
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